Yes - yes, the feverishly-awaited Saucony Virrata is finally in my hands.
The Race
It's a fun run, it's only 8km long, and it's held at Putrajaya in conjunction with World Youth Day. Oh, and Putrajaya is flat-lying, mostly. So there you go.
The Shoe
So, a word of thank you to Royal Sporting House for bringing in this shoe to this side of the world as it is now (I believe) widely available at all RSH-operated stores. Bought mine at Running Lab in Tropicana City Mall, but I saw the shoe at Stadium in Pavillion as well, so that's that.
It costs RM299. Cheap.
Before I proceed any further on the shoe, I should inform once again the root to my excitement towards the Virrata: before the Saucony blog announced the development of their new zero-drop shoe, the Kinvara was the only shoe that I reserve the highest praise to. It's like discovering a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow lodged somewhere within the fjords of Norway. It's the epicenter of perfectly-designed, flawless perfection. Much like Jennifer Lawrence.
Perfection!
The way everyone should see the Virrata is that it is the lighter, stripped-down, lower-profiled version of the Kinvara. And why not, because the two shoes are basically engineered and built using the same blueprint, and carrying the same DNA. But the biggest difference between the two goes down to the outsole.
Constructed mostly of deeply-carved moderately-soft foam (EVA+), it's very flexible, unlike the Kinvara which is a bit more rigid. Though it has high-durable rubber on the heel (XT-900) and the forefoot, where most wear usually occurs, it will be of little importance to me because I'm quite the heavy underpronator. So I'm expecting the much-softer exposed foam to wear out quicker than I would like it to.
Although Saucony markets this shoe as a zero-drop shoe, the amount of padding (or cushioning) that you get from the sole unit, all 18mm of foam, it somehow doesn't feel like it is completely level. But that's just me though as countless other professional reviews has confirmed the zero-drop claim as true.
Otherwise, to recap, this shoe is light, is pretty responsive, generously cushioned but not too much that it kills my pace, and is very flexible so as to somehow closely mimic the 'barefoot' feel. Of course, when I say mimic, it doesn't at all feel anywhere near barefoot-like. Ground feel is pretty much muted. But what you're lacking in that department is completely made up with responsive cushioning. As much as I love the Merrell Bare Access, I don't think I'd be able to do 21km in that shoe. My leg will tire sooner than I'd like it to. The Virrata though feels like a perfect candidate to take me on a much longer run.
Apart from that, my only complain regarding the shoe is the lacing system, which harks back to the lacing system of Kinvara 2 - it's kind of complicated. I don't feel like I could get a secure fit with the lacing system, although 8km of considerably high-paced running on a Sunday morning in Putarjaya has proved otherwise.
Final verdict? Barring the lacing system, the Virrata is a brilliant shoe.
No comments:
Post a Comment